Don't Be Bitter
by arabesquesunset
Summary: Occurs during Prince Caspian. Samantha enters Narnia when she stirs up trouble at her boarding school. Peter, with his poor attitude, is sent off alone by the Narnians to find an enemy village. What happens when the two hardheaded teenagers meet? PeterOC
1. Introduction

**Hey, everyone! This is my first longer fic that I've posted on , so I hope it's received well! I love reviews and hearing from readers, so don't forget to let me know what you think! Here goes nothing. Hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia or any of the characters you may see here, except Samantha and perhaps a few others you might see that the brilliant C.S. Lewis did not create.**_

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Introduction

This can't be happening to me.

It was just supposed to be a good laugh, but obviously, that laugh had turned sour right before my eyes. No one was supposed to find out it was me, either, but I guess that's how I found myself racing through the corridors of my lovely (yeah, right) boarding school, desperately searching for a place to hide away from the teacher and principal that were in hot pursuit.

Hey, I thought it was funny.

I guess my stuffy old hag of a history teacher did not.

Especially when it became clear that this particular joke was poisonous. Yeah, literally.

I mean, how was I supposed to know that? I have to admit though, it made the prank go up about fifty points on the cool scale. It only lasts for about two hours, but you should have SEEN that swelling…and the flattering purple shade that my teacher's face turned…but I won't get into that right now. I'm kind of short on time, if you hadn't noticed.

"Hey, Samantha! Did you really do it?"

This excited whisper came from the dormitory door that I was passing at the moment. Oh, no. I don't have time for this. Anything but Bailey. This kid is bad news. She would make my 'short on time' into a 'Samantha is dead meat' scenario.

"Yup, I did. Now, if you'll excuse me--"

"Really? That's so cool, I can't believe you actually did it! Did they find out?"

This was about the time that I noticed the furious footsteps of my pursuers coming around the corner. I looked quickly at the 12-year-old blonde-haired girl hanging out of her door in fascination. I may be a particularly lonely, antisocial 16-year-old, but that never stopped this girl from inexplicably wanting to be my friend. It's rather annoying, really.

"There! She's there!" the principal shouted. Didn't anyone ever teach him that it's impolite to point?

"Yes, Bailey. I would say that they have," I replied to her question, and with that, continued my frantic sprint down the hall without so much as a 'sayonara'.

Apparently, though, the delay had given my enemies a one-up, and they were just that much closer. Which made me all that much closer to my suspension. My mother would not be happy. Which meant that either I kept running, or faced the almighty wrath of my mother's designer shoe obsession for about a month longer than necessary.

My choice was obvious.

Keep running.

I finally rounded the corner and ran up the nearest staircase two steps at a time, all the while listening to the huffing and puffing of the diabetic principal. "Young lady, come down here right now. You have more than passed the detention option. I will be calling your mother immediately. Surrender!"

Does this school look like a battlefield?

If you think not, you haven't seen my room.

Oh, come on. You can't tell me that wasn't funny.

Alright, so it was kind of lame. But anyway, let's get back to the story.

They were closing in on me now. I had hit a dead end. The end of the third floor dorms. There was nowhere to go but to barge into some random girl's room, since I was at the end of the hall, where the last door was displayed. But I wasn't about to give up.

They must have had no idea what I was thinking, since they knew I was surrounded. I knew it, too. But suddenly, I had my hand on the doorknob of that last door, and I quickly let myself in, locking it behind me. I remember thinking that it was kind of strange that the door was just unlocked like that. But in the rush of the moment, I didn't think anything of it. I was preoccupied, okay?

The shouting and banging on the door kept getting louder as I frantically searched the room for an exit. There was a small window at the end of the room, but that was no good. It was a three-story fall. Not such a good idea just after breakfast. Trust me. I would know.

There was only option left.

The closet.

It was weird that I hadn't noticed it until then, but suddenly, there it was. The door was radiating, almost glowing. There was a strange feeling it gave me when I looked at it, like I couldn't help but to be strong. Everything else fell away from my mind but that closet door.

Cautiously, I stepped toward it, reaching out one hand in apprehension. The banging on the room's door had stopped, and I could hear the two teachers working out strategies to break it down. I knew I had only so much time left to go. But I didn't let myself think about that anymore, or maybe that was just 'the Way of the Closet'. I had reached the glowing door, and made to touch the handle.

I drew my hand back away at first. There was a certain blistering heat radiating from the knob, but I decided to test it anyway. What other surprises did this door have in store for me? I thought the knob would burn, but it didn't. It was perfectly warm, comforting. Suddenly, I found myself twisting it slowly. Almost involuntarily.

I heard a small click in the lock of the room's door. Obviously, they'd thought to pick it. Crap. I'd better start moving faster.

Before I knew it, I decided to just take the chance. I jumped right through the door without looking. I slammed it behind me, leaving me in the darkness. Funny, I couldn't hear my teachers anymore.

And that was before I fell.

To my death?

No.

Into a tree.

I let out a small shriek as I looked around at where I was. There were mountains, great beautiful forests, many ruins, and a large river in the distance. Where was I that I could see all of this?

I looked down, shaking in my old sweatshirt and jeans.

Oh, crap.

I was perched precariously at the top of an approximately fifty to eighty foot pine tree.

It was at this point that I swore to myself never to put an innocent-looking garden snake in Ms. Fisher's desk again.

Or to wear my good shoes when entering strange, glowing closets that have possibilities of harboring loads of pinesap.


	2. Chapter 1: The Discovery

**Author's Note: Hey, everyone! I'm pretty happy so far with the way the story is going. I know Peter (and Samantha, sometimes, too) may seem like a jerk for a while, but that's all part of the grand plan, just so you know. Haha. Ever since seeing the movie, too, I've been looking forward to somehow making a story where Peter's a jerk. Because it was kind of awesome. LOL. Thanks for the comments and putting me on Story Alert! I appreciate and loveeee the reviews, and I'd like to know if you guys think I should continue with it or not. Comments, thoughts, suggestions? Tell me what you think!**

_**Disclaimer: Yet again, I do not, and never will (sadly), own the Chronicles of Narnia. All belongs to C.S. Lewis, and all things to do with the movie belong to Disney and Walden Media.**_

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Chapter 1: The Discovery

"Well, this is quite the predicament."

I scowled at no one in particular, leaning my chin on my hand in a bored expression. I glared at the air, the tree branches that held me. Which probably wasn't such a good idea. Just in case the trees, you know, came to life and got angry.

Ha ha. Yeah, right…trees? Alive? Like that would ever happen…

Although my view had seemed to change a lot in the past while. Hmm. Maybe it was just the wind. Blowing my tree several yards from my original resting place about every hour.

In my delirium, I was beginning to wonder just how long I had been stranded up in my tree. An hour or two? A day? Time seemed to have no factor here. It was quite the sensation. Not to mention the extremely uncomfortable feeling of having my ruined jeans ride up in the crotch area while I resided on my branch.

I also started seeing things. Like birds, talking as they flew by together. Having actual conversations. I could have even sworn I heard one say to my general direction, "Oh, my. Will you just look at the size of that strange-looking creature? Really, the things our cousins must be eating these days…"

And then I actually glowered.

I glowered at a bird.

For talking. And insulting me, by calling me a humongous strange-looking creature.

LOOK WHO'S TALKING!

Yeah. I was a total goner. Or was I?

Which is why, when I saw an actual human passing under my tree a little while later, I didn't give it too much thought. Well, for a few seconds anyway.

Then I was shouting down at the person, like my life depended on it. And maybe it did.

"HELP! HELP ME! No, look UP the tree, you idiot…" I was just beginning to think that perhaps my method of cursing my savior from eighty feet in the air wasn't really making much progress, when I noticed that a new addition was about to crash our party. And from where I was standing (alright, sitting, perching, whatever), he didn't look like a happy camper.

Then came the raised sword, as he sprinted in the first guy's direction, attempting to be stealthy. I guess it was working, since the 'attackee' didn't even flinch. He wasn't paying any attention. In fact, I had the impression that he was still looking for the source of my voice.

No, this was definitely not good news.

The attacker was getting closer and closer now, closing in on the object of his intentions. He paused for a moment, concealing himself behind a tree. Then he ran forward again, finally reaching his goal.

"Look out!" I yelled automatically, clamping a hand to my neck in involuntary fear. But my shout had done its duty. The seemingly blonde-headed person had turned just in the nick of time, drawing his sword just before clashing into a duel.

I gasped as I watched, slowly leaning to the right side of the pinecones in front of me, trying to see the full scene, without realizing the negative affect my movement was having on my own branch.

That is, I didn't realize it until I was falling again. And this time, I was pretty sure there was no tree to break my fall. What I didn't count on, of course, was the tree I was already in, _moving._ I braced myself with closed eyes for the cracking of my skull, and the pain of broken limbs. Or death. But it never came. After several seconds that felt like hours, I fell into a soft, cushiony substance. I cracked open one eyelid, glancing around. I was on a green layer of prickly stuff, and I looked down, to see how far I'd fallen. I was right above the miniature battle taking place, and it seemed that the tree's position had moved at least 90 degrees east. That was…interesting?

Soon, though, I heard the grunts of effort from below me, and redirected my attention to the ground. My eyes widened as I watched the scene laid out before me. The two men were putting up a great fight, one with only _ancient _traveler's clothes on (was I in one of those lame medieval school plays?), the other (the guy doing the attacking) with heavy metal armor. At the moment, it looked like my savior was losing. As I watched, he was hit in the head with the hilt of the other guy's sword, and was sent flailing into a heavy boulder a few feet away. He tried to get up from his lying position, but he looked like he was in pain. Now, that just wouldn't do.

"Alright, I think it's about time I got out of this tree," I grumbled to myself, inspecting my options. I could either climb or fall down. I chose climbing.

I shifted my weight carefully, grabbing hold of the flimsy branch above me. Then I tried to step down to the next branch down.

Yeah, that wasn't about to happen.

After placing all my weight on that particular branch, it couldn't take it. So, obviously, it cracked. I could have sworn I heard a painful yowl coming from the tree, but I dismissed that thought quickly. I was more focused on the 'falling' thing.

But, of course, with my luck, I found something to break my fall.

The mean dude in the armor. Not so nice a thing to land on, let me tell you. Especially when you hit your funny bone on the hilt of the guy's sword. Yow.

Meanwhile, I saw the blonde guy forcing himself to stand, wincing as he touched the back of his head, and watching in bewilderment as I rolled off his moaning opponent. It seemed as if he had just noticed the situation that was unfolding.

As soon as I got off of the second guy, though, he stood up uneasily, clutching his arm (I might have broken it, did I mention that?), and stumbling off as quickly as he could. Which wasn't all that quickly, by the way. But I was surprised that the first guy just let him go, watching in suspicion.

Then he turned back to me.

Boy, was he a looker. He had light brown hair that shone in the sun, light eyes (I couldn't tell the color from where I stood), and he was pretty tall, too. About my age. Maybe one or two years older. He looked like a knight. Overall, a pretty boy. Oh, man.

But then, I should have known that when a guy looks like that, there has to be something wrong with him. As I soon found out.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously, not yet retiring his sword. He looked ready to attack me if need be. Gee, way to thank a girl. Although that British accent took some of the sting away.

"Samantha. And you are…?"

"I am High King Peter, the Magnificent." He made the sentence all the more comical by grimacing again as he inspected the rest of his wounds

I snorted, scoffing in glee. He looked insulted by my behavior. Oops.

"Yeah, sure, buddy." Now he just seemed confused. Like he couldn't imagine any reason why I would be questioning his statement. But he seemed to be waiting for something.

After a while of just standing there, staring at each other, he finally sheathed his sword and said, "Well, aren't you going to bow?"

I raised an eyebrow, appraising him again. Suddenly, he wasn't looking all that good anymore. Oh, who am I kidding. Of course he was.

"What's wrong with you, man?" I asked. It was meant to be a rhetorical question.

"Don't you know who I am?"

"I don't even know _where _I am. It would be great if someone could explain _that _to me."

He looked amused, but more understanding lit his eyes, like he'd seen my situation before. His eyes were dark green, I could finally tell, almost melting. He began walking toward me, talking while he went.

"You stand in Narnia. Where do you come from?"

I eyed him before answering evasively, "My boarding school."

"I see." He looked like he didn't see at all. "I am one of four rulers of Narnia. As I have already explained. I am High King Peter."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him, and settled with a sarcastic, mocking comment. "Well, _High King Peter_, I would think that if you were really such a great king and all that, you'd be able to fight some guy that's about to kill you."

I don't think he liked that very much.

"Well, I'm not exactly used to children dropping onto my opponents from the sky. I can usually fight my own battles when there aren't interruptions," he said scathingly, glowering.

Oh, he asked for it.

"Child? _Child? _You know what, I think I'll just be going on my way and try to figure out a way out of this place. Good luck with those assassinators, by the way." I turned on my heel and strode away from him smugly. Good riddance.

But then my dramatic (and yet, anticlimactic) exit was ruined by a tree root that I tripped over and scraped my knee on. Not to mention it ripped my already gross, sticky jeans. Now, that root was definitely was not there before.

No, I'm serious. It wasn't.

"You know, I think you just may need someone to help you along. And save you from the vicious…dirt," he snorted, and then _he _turned on _his _heel. Not so gracefully, I might add. He was still wounded. Jerk. This was far from over. I wasn't about to let him get the best of me. What does he think, just because he's king, I need him to offer to 'help me along'?

"Well…_well_, maybe I just…might!" I shouted after him snottily.

Okay. So, I ran out of good comebacks. And I actually was beginning to think that I just may need a guide to find my way through this place. Whatever it was. And even though I didn't know him, and I already hated this stuffy, arrogant, conceited (gorgeous) guy, I was determined to get back to my _own _world. Where, unless you get pushed out of a helicopter, people usually don't get stuck up eighty foot trees. And we only use swords and armor for Halloween.

So then I scrambled to catch up with his long strides.

"Stupid tree root. Stupid trees," I muttered to myself bitterly, glaring at the ground, before a very large pinecone happened to fly right smack into the back of my head.

The last thing I heard before disappearing into the forest with Mr. High King (and a terrible headache) was the sound of a light laughter following me on the breeze.


	3. Chapter 2: Continued Hatred of My Savior

Alright, so you probably can't believe it but WOAH. IT'S A NEW CHAPTER. What is this, a year later? I'm sosososo sorry about the long hiatus, but I'm back in action now during my winter break from college. So, here goes nothing. Review and let me know if I should continue and if you still like it. Thanks guys!

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**Chapter 2: The Continued Hatred of My Savior**

If you'd asked me the day before what I would be doing on this particular day, I might have said something like…oh, I don't know, blowing up a toilet on the first floor with the illegal fireworks supplied to me by my connection at the elementary school. Or maybe even stealing stacks of paperwork from the principal's office, attaching them to and molding them around water balloons, and dive-bombing them off the roof onto the heads of my least favorite teachers (that one was truly artful, with the inspiration of paper mache).

Not that I speak from experience or anything.

However, the most far-fetched item on the list of possible mentally-stimulating activities would be to spend my day following around a testosterone-filled, jumped-up pretty boy in a medieval costume and a poor attitude. I mean, here I was, trying to do my best to be a good sport. But no, of course he wouldn't appreciate my efforts. He, instead, left me tripping along behind him, stupid tree roots once again appearing from nowhere.

I swear. They were never there.

"So...Sir High King...Sir...seeing as you hail from this 'Narnia', don't you think you should provide a bit more narration on where we're going? Seeing as you're the one who so nicely invited me along on your little journey." All I had to do was finish this off with a curtsy and a mocking British accent and I was good to go. If only he'd turned around to see it.

"You can stick to Peter. And I believe at this point, narration is the least of your worries. Besides, I'd hate to waste my precious time and energy giving _you_ details," he replied, smirking in the stupid way he does. I was about to smack that pretty face of his before I realized that I was going to be the better person here. Why not? I mean, it's not like I have to do much to accomplish _that_.

That's right, feel the burn Sir High King.

All I was trying to do was to be on my way back to...oh, right.

Garden snakes. Mother's designer shoes. Scarred for life. Aw, hell.

Either way, anything had to be better than this. At least, this is what I was thinking before 'Peter' spoke again.

"This boarding school you spoke of, is it from the Other World? On the outside?"

In his High King language, I'm sure this sounded like a perfectly legitimate question. In Samantha language, all I heard was "Hi. I'm a douchebag. Please ignore me."

"Other...World...?"

"Yes, the outside world. My siblings and I originally came from a place called Eng Land."

In reply, I stared, probably boring holes into his retreating medieval back, trying to figure out why anyone would separate England into two separate syllables. But then, I suppose all things considered, it was one of the least strange things I'd heard in his presence, so I decided to shrug it off.

"Close enough...I mean, it's across the ocean from us and all. Although I'm actually from Amer Ica," I told him slowly, to which I only got a look of bewilderment. "How'd you get here, anyway? Don't tell me. You walked into a closet." I snickered as I resisted my urge to make a "coming out of the closet" joke. Looking back on that day, I'm pretty sure it was a good decision. He wouldn't have appreciated the humor. After all, he did have a knack of ruining things.

"Close enough," he said, trying to mock my voice and failing miserably, I might add (I have a much more lilting, seductive voice. I'm sure you can imagine it). "We walked into my uncle's wardrobe and behind the coats was...this place. Narnia."

"...Right. And since you're apparently the magnificent 'King' and all, what are you doing out walking in a forest all by your lonesome?" This was the first time, in all the hours I had known him, that he shifted uncomfortably, looking as though he didn't want to reply.

"My family, and subjects, felt as though my...attitude...and battle skills would be better used elsewhere. Before you came along and so rudely interrupted my journey, I was searching for an enemy encampment." Ah, and there it is. Back to the hostile attitude we all know and love. But this fact was slightly overshadowed by the delicious material he'd just given me to work with.

"So, wait, in other words...and let me get this straight, now," I snorted, barely able to contain the glee bursting from my very soul, "they...banished you? For being a bratty, teenage king?" My uncontrollable grin made it oh so difficult to speak.

He turned and glared down his nose at me with disdain. "You might be unaware that that facial expression is quite unbecoming," he said disgustedly.

My dam of joy broke at this point, as I had to clutch my sides from the pain of laughing as hard as I was. "What facial expression would that be, sir? Happiness?"

"Yes. And you can wipe that smirk off your face, because no one banishes the High King of Narnia. As I said, they felt my skills were needed elsewhere."

"Ah, yes. Elsewhere. And as we have recently seen, those skills are being used so well, seeing as you need a girl to drop out of a tree onto your opponent in order to win a battle."

At this, he finally stopped walking and growled, his previously enthusiastic mood completely gone. "I would have been just fine had you not interrupted my battle, you insolent fool."

"Wow, the last time I heard the words 'insolent' and 'fool', I fell off my dinosaur. But, hey, whatever helps you sleep at night," I replied, giving him a little patronizing pat on the shoulder.

From the rather shortened distance between us, I could see him grating his teeth together and a small vein pulsing in his temple, making my face hurt from so much happiness. He couldn't do more than give an exasperated sigh, at this point, and chose to ignore my sarcasm as I tested his patience.

"We should begin to seek shelter for the night. Darkness will be falling shortly," he said in a newly controlled voice.

In our day of pure argument, I had never stopped to notice the fading light around us. Now that I took a glance around, though, I could see the sun starting to sink below the horizon and the trees becoming shrouded in shadows, seeming less like solid objects. There were also some freaky noises out there that my subconscious was probably trying to keep me away from. But I try never to delve into my subconscious. There's scary crap in there.

"Fine," I said.

"Fine," he grunted in return, the way guys tend to do when they're just glad an annoying conversation is over that they never wanted to have in the first place. Yes, even the most good-looking and infuriating guys have that guttural noise in their repertoire.

'High King Peter' then spun on his heel and turned his back on me once again, giving an angry sigh and ignoring my chuckles from behind as I continued following him, watching him kick stray branches out of his way. I'm sure he was beginning to regret telling me to come with him, but I was just getting started.

Besides, who's to say I wouldn't have followed him anyway, even if he hadn't asked me to? I sometimes do annoying and immature things like that. But hey, I bet you haven't noticed that particular trait yet.

Don't worry, you'll grow to love that about me.


End file.
